May 17, 2008
CHATTANOOGA - The sixth-seeded Auburn men's golf team qualified for the NCAA Championship by finishing sixth with a final round 282 Saturday for an 840 total in the three-day NCAA East Regional at the Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga.
Auburn will make its 16th NCAA Championship appearance at the Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind., May 28-31.
Play was delayed over two hours due to thick fog. The first groups left at 9:30 am EST from the front nine and 9:39 am EST from the back. Afternoon tee times started at 2:42 p.m.
Junior Glenn Northcutt (70-207) carded his fourth consecutive round under par as he led all Tigers with a tournament total of 6-under par to finish tied for 8th individually. Seniors Patton Kizzire (70-210), Jay Moseley (69-214), Gordon Strother (76-216) and Steven Groover (73-220) finished tied for 23rd, 47th, 65th and 94th, respectively.
"We did what came here to do," said head coach Mike Griffin. "Our guys came in and put up the rounds we needed to move on. I'm real happy for these seniors to get one more shot at the national title.
"The Kampen Course is a long and windy course. We're going to have to bring our best game to Indiana. The way I see it, right now we are tied for first in the NCAA Championship."
After Friday's round of 277, the Tigers accumulated a gap of 10 or more strokes on 16 of the tournament's 27 teams. Auburn entered Saturday's final round at 10-under par and had reached 22-under through the first 13 holes of the day, only to drop 10 strokes to the last five.
One of the day's highlights came as Strother approached No. 5 at 2-over par after bogies on Nos. 2 and 3. After his drive left him just over 100 yards from the pin, Strother placed his approach two feet beyond the cup, only to have it cut back into the cup for an eagle. The shot brought him back to even-par after bogies on Nos. 2 and 3.
Northcutt also carded his own eagle on No. 11 as his second shot landed within 10 feet of the pin and connected on his putt to send him to 2-under after making the turn at even-par.
The 18th hole, a 484-yard par-4 converted from a par-5, gave Auburn trouble in all three rounds. Four Tigers have shot over par on the hole for a total loss of nine strokes, four of which came Saturday in two double-bogeys.
Four Tigers bogeyed the par-4, 453-yard No. 15 for a loss of six strokes, during the first two rounds of play. In Saturday's final round, Auburn responded with three pars and two birdies, complements of Kizzire and Strother.
With a career NCAA Regional strokes average of 91.44, Northcutt now has the second lowest regional strokes average in Auburn history, just behind Reid Edstrom's 71.17.
Leading all Tigers in 2007-08, Kizzire has now counted 26-of-27 (.963) rounds played not as an individual.
The top 10 teams in the 27-team field and the top two outside of the qualifying teams advance to the NCAA Championship.
Second-ranked Georgia (275-811) claimed the NCAA East Regional title followed by Augusta State (277-832), UC-Irvine (278-836), Mississippi State (278-836), UAB (278-839), Auburn (282-840), Charlotte (281-844), East Tennessee State (276-845), Middle Tennessee State (282-846), and Virginia (276-849).
Teams not earning qualification include Michigan State (287-851), UT-Chattanooga (290-853), New Mexico State (292-853), North Carolina State (280-855), Virginia Tech (286-858), South Carolina (278-859), Georgia State (288-861), North Florida (281-862), Duke (295-863), Memphis (284-864), Western Carolina (290-864), Coastal Carolina (289-865), SMU (295-866), Colorado State (291-866), Ole Miss (287-871), Western Illinois (290-875) and Jackson State (312-948).
Next up for the Tigers is the 2008 NCAA Championship at the par-72, 7,462-yard Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind., May 28-31. Live scoring will be made available via Golfstat www.golfstat.com.